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Howard Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
|occupation = Founder and CEO of Stark Industries Co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. Contributor to Project Rebirth and P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Founder of Stark Pictures |family = Unnamed parents Maria Stark (wife, deceased) Tony Stark (son, deceased) Pepper Potts (daughter-in-law) Morgan Stark (granddaughter) |friends = Captain America, Peggy Carter, Edwin Jarvis, Bucky Barnes, Chester Phillips, Abraham Erskine, Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne, Jason Wilkes, Obadiah Stane, Mitchell Carson, S.H.I.E.L.D., SSR, Howling Commandos |enemies = Red Skull, Arnim Zola, Anton Vanko, Winter Soldier, HYDRA, Leviathan |type of hero = Genius Businessman}} Howard Anthony Walter Stark is a supporting character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He was a brilliant inventor and businessman and the father of Tony Stark/Iron Man. He founded Stark Industries, and co-founded S.H.I.E.L.D. with Peggy Carter and Chester Phillips. He was portrayed by Gerard Sanders In Iron Man, John Slattery in Iron Man 2 onward, and Dominic Cooper in The First Avenger and Agent Carter. In Captain America: Super Soldier, he was voiced by Liam O'Brien. History During WWII he worked on various government projects, including the Manhattan Project and "Project: Rebirth". Howard also helped the Strategic Scientific Reserve fight against HYDRA during World War II. He constructed Captain America's shield from Vibranium, which would become the heroes greatest weapon. And after the war he discovered the Tesseract when him and researchers continued to look for Captain America. Later in life, Howard married a woman named Maria and had a son, Tony in 1970. He also co-developed the Arc Reactor with defected Soviet scientist Anton Vanko, who later attempted to get reach from it. Howard founded S.H.I.E.L.D. along with Peggy Carter and Colonel Chester Phillips. Eventually, Howard would push Tony away, but did care for his son, having high hopes that Tony would change the world. Howard and Maria were killed by HYDRA in 1991, who made it look like a car accident by having the Winter Solider assassinate them. He would be posthumous grandfather of Tony's daughter, Morgan Stark, and is the father-in-law to Tony's wife and Morgan's mother, Virginia "Pepper" Potts. Biography Early Life Howard Anthony Walter Stark was born on August 15, 1917 in Richford, New York to unnamed parents who lived on lower the east side. Howard had a tough childhood, as his father sold fruit and his mother sewed shirtwaist for living, and Howard learned that society put limits to success based on one's economic status and gender. As a result of learning this, Howard stated that became good at lying to get what he needed. During his youth, Howard became an wealthy genius and businessman, attending international conferences, where he met Dr. Abraham Erskine in 1934. In 1939, Howard founded Stark Industries, and would have his researchers go around the world looking for material to experiment with. Notably, Stark found Vibranium in Africa, which he would later demonstrate with at showcases. Later, Stark met with Chester Phillips, and agreed to join the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Stark would help the SSR by helping Peggy rescue Dr. Erskine from HYDRA's castle, and helped the United States by producing planes after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Stark continued helping the Allies by performing experiments for them, working as a weapon specialist, and being a contributor in Project Rebirth. Also, Howard became close friends with his butler, Edwin Jarvis, and Peggy Carter herself, whom he relied on greatly after the war. Captain America: The First Avenger Post World War II Howard eventually met a woman named Maria, and married her before the 1970s, and continued to develop weapons for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the United States military during the Cold War. He met with several presidents such as Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and others during that era. After collecting the Tesseract when looking for Captain America, Howard became a contributor to the S.H.I.E.L.D. project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. alongside NASA, who wanted to harness the energy from the Tesseract. The project would also be contributed by Dr. Wendy Lawson and Air Force pilot Carol Danvers. In the 1960s, Howard and Anton Vanko developed the Arc Reactor, which was based off of the Tesseract's energy. Stark saw the reactor as the stepping stone to creating a stable element that would render nuclear power obsolete, but Vanko saw it as a way to get rich. When Stark learned of Vanko's treachery, he had him deported, which would cause Anton to become embittered. Anton's anger at Stark would be passed onto his son, Ivan Vanko years later. Around this time, Stark took Obadiah Stane as a partner, and the two had a close partnership. In 1970, Maria gave birth to their child, Anthony "Tony" Stark, whom took Howard's first middle name. Despite caring for his son and being secretly proud of him, Howard was cold and distant towards Tony. In addition, Howard also told his son stories about his idol and friend Captain America, causing Tony to develop a sense of jealousy for the hero. Ant-Man In the late 1980s, Stark's partnership with Hank Pym became strained when Pym refused to give S.H.I.E.L.D. his Ant-Man suit and the formula for his Pym Particles. Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. attempted to recreate the formula, but Pym discovered this and announced his resignation in front of Stark, Peggy and Mitchell Carson. Despite his attempts to convince him to stay, Pym vowed to never allow anyone get his formula, and went into retirement. As a result of feeling betrayed and losing his wife during a mission, Pym had a negative view of Howard Stark and his former colleagues. Pym would pass his dislike of the Starks to his successor, Scott Lang, to never trust a Stark. Death and Legacy In 1991, Howard had succeeded in recreating the Super Soldier serum, but HYDRA learned about the success, and wanted the formula and him killed. Vasily Karpov orchestrated the event by ordering Bucky Barnes, who was found alive and programed into the Winter Soldier, to take the formula and assassinate Howard and Maria Stark. Howard and his wife were both killed on Long Island, but the former attempted to call for help and recognized Bucky before he killed him. After his death, Tony inherited Stark Industries at twenty one years old, and became the youngest CEO of a company. Howard was memorialized across America, having a mural in Midtown School of Science and Technology, a highway and parkway named after him, and was remembered in bibliographies and by WHiH World News in 2015. During the years as Tony was CEO, Obadiah Stane mentored him, but wanted to head the company himself, and attempted to have Tony killed by having the Ten Rings kidnap him. However, Tony was able to escape by crafting a suit of armor with the help of Ho Yinsen, and later defeated Stane. Iron Man 2 When Tony was dying from the Arc Reactor poisoning his blood, he discovered in Howard's video message a model that took him to a new element. The element was strong enough to clean his blood, and allow him to create new armors, and Tony noted that his father was still teaching him. With the new element, Tony crafted his new armor to aid his best friend, James Rhodes in stopping Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko. Captain America: Civil War Howard is first seen in Tony's memory of the last time he saw his parents, and how he wished the memory would have ended that way when showing it at M.I.T. Later in the film, Tony watches the assassinations of his parents by the Winter Soldier, which was used by Helmut Zemo to make Iron Man fight Captain American and Bucky Barnes. Despite being defeated, Tony reminded Steve that his father made that shield, and left it behind out of sympathy for Tony and Howard. Avengers: Endgame In an alternate 1970, Howard met his son Tony (who was under the name "Howard Potts"), who had time traveled there to steal the Tesseract to undo the decimation caused by Thanos. Tony reconciled with his father, and gave him parenting advice from raising his daughter, Morgan. Howard was confused when "Howard Potts" gave him a hug, and Tony left with Rogers to their timeline. Gallery Images HowardStark-CATFA.png Howard-Stark-Expo-IM2.jpg|Stark's video message for the Stark Expo. Stark-and-Stane.png|Stark with Obadiah Stane. Howard-and-Tony-Stark.png|Howard with a young Tony. Pym-confronts-Stark.png|Stark in Ant-Man, being confronted by Hank Pym. Howard-Stark's-death.png|Stark's death by the Winter Soldier. Tony-and-Howard-Stark.png|Howard in Avengers: Endgame, unknowingly speaking with his son. Trivia *Was based on Walt Disney and Howard Hughes. *Is one of the few characters to have been portrayed by different actors in different films, the others are War Machine, The Hulk, Thanos, Fandral and Red Skull. *In an unused draft of Iron Man, he was still alive and would be a ruthless businessman and villain named "War Machine". 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